Thread: - Trademark Infringement? -

Okay guys, this may be extremely obvious.

I'm thinking about starting a web based business that will be localized to the university I attend. We are very much a university town and alligning my brand with the students I think would lend itself to loyalty and help get the word out faster.

Now, I attend The University of Western Ontario here in London, Ontario, Canada. The only trademark info I can find is in the link below. The school is commonly referred to as UWO or Western. UWO is mentioned in the linked document as is our mascot the 'Mustang'.

What I want to know is if I could 'get away' with using the word Western combined with similar colours to that of the school. Which is purple and white, I would use a splash of dark purple that was clearly a different variation to an otherwise black white and grey site.

For example, say I wanted to run westernbars.com or www.westernblogs.com with a splash of dark purple would I just be asking for trouble?

The word Western is just so general that I feel like there is maybe a chance it's too ambigious to get me in trouble. But I may be hopeful.

Anyone have any experience with something like this? What type of penalty do you think I'd face anyways? Cease and desist type scenario?

None of the content would be remotely related to the school other than addressing the site's population as students.

Have at me. Be brutally honest. Just looking for suggestions/similar experiences.

http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/mapp/section1/mapp117.pdf

I'm no lawyer but you should be fine.

Currently in the USA Uni's are cracking down on High Schools using the same logo.

Some universities are VERY picky about using anything close to their colors and logos in a business setting without giving them proper compensation. A good friend of mine just went through this with his business.

Talk to a good local copyright/trademark lawyer to make sure.

WESTERN!!

I graduated out of there 4 years ago. It's not the university that you need to be worried about it's the Student Gov't that'll rape you.

A lot of groups/small business start off with UWO-this UWO-that but nobody raises concern until you start making money. We started a business in second year and it was doing well but at one point we got an email saying that we need to incorporate within the university. They wanted to become a "partner" since we are using their name. Partner mean they wanted 80% of profits.

We ended up changing the name from "UWO..." to "Campus..." and told them to suck an egg.

Originally Posted by tblackj

Some universities are VERY picky about using anything close to their colors and logos in a business setting without giving them proper compensation. A good friend of mine just went through this with his business.

Talk to a good local copyright/trademark lawyer to make sure.

I'm on the hunt for a good local IP lawyer as we speak.

Originally Posted by Justdrive

WESTERN!!

I graduated out of there 4 years ago. It's not the university that you need to be worried about it's the Student Gov't that'll rape you.

A lot of groups/small business start off with UWO-this UWO-that but nobody raises concern until you start making money. We started a business in second year and it was doing well but at one point we got an email saying that we need to incorporate within the university. They wanted to become a "partner" since we are using their name. Partner mean they wanted 80% of profits.

We ended up changing the name from "UWO..." to "Campus..." and told them to suck an egg.

Small world! Are you still around town? What kinda' business did you get running? UWO ftw! Shoot me a PM man.

Good to know they didn't seek further legal action. This business won't likely be hugely profitable and will be mostly making money via affiliate streams which in itself will allow it to fly under the radar I think, due to the fact that most people won't be aware it's a for profit website.

The only other issue I see is it will kill scalability... Which is a double edged sword.